New employees at PWSC

New employees at PWSC

Cherise Beatus

Financial Aid and Admissions Coordinator

Cherise Beatus is now the Financial Aid Advisor and Admissions Coordinator for PWSC.
Cherise was born and raised in Fairbanks, Alaska. She also calls Hughes, Alaska, home
since that is where her family is originally from. Hughes is a small village on the
Koyukuk River in Interior Alaska. Cherise has experience as a dual-credit student
in the UA system and has extensive experience with the federal financial aid process
as a college student. Cherise graduated from Stanford University in 2017 and is currently
working on a master's degree in public administration and policy through American
University. When she is not busy working she enjoys taking pictures of nature and
people.

Dennis Ragsdale

Construction Academy Project Manager

Dennis Ragsdale grew up in Tampa, Florida, and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Social
and Behavioral Sciences from the University of South Florida. He also earned a Master
of City and Regional Planning from the Georgia Institute of Technology. Dennis began
his professional career in Atlanta working for the National Park Service as an outdoor
recreation planner. Dennis served in the cities of Vero Beach, Melbourne Beach, and
St. Cloud, Florida, and Valdez, Alaska, in various roles from planner to city manager.
He also worked as a private planning and land development consultant and owned a consulting
business for approximately 10 years.

This May, Dennis joined Prince William Sound College as Construction Academy Project
Manager. The construction academy will focus on expanding the work force in construction
trades and promoting cold climate housing construction techniques.

Dennis and his wife, Tasia, have four daughters and five grandchildren.

Jason Smilie

Career and Technical Administrator

Jason Smilie began his military career in 1997 when he enlisted in the United Stated
Army as a field medic and remained in the enlisted ranks until 2003. He was commissioned
in 2003 after completion of the Coast Guard Officer Candidate School. In 2010 he was
called upon to assist in the Deepwater Horizon response and served as the deputy of
the Vessel Decontamination Section at the Unified Area Command.

Jason recently earned a Doctorate of Business Administration in Entrepreneurship and
Business Management from California Intercontinental University in 2017 and holds
a Master of Science in Quality Systems Management from the National Graduate School.
Jason has received many awards including a Joint Service Commendation Medal, an Army
Commendation Medal, a Coast Guard Achievement Medal, an Army Achievement Medal, and
four Coast Guard Commendation Medals.

Jason has joined Prince William Sound College as administrator for career & technical
programs. This position provides strategic leadership in programming areas such as
millwright, occupational safety, health, construction, maritime and industry training.

Jason and his wife Rebecca (Becky) are the proud parents of two sons, Jason and Hunter.
Jason and his family love Alaska and living in Valdez, enjoying all that the close-knit
community has to offer. He says, “There is no other place we would rather raise our
children.”

Rusen Meylani

Assistant Professor of Mathematics

Dr. Rusen Meylani is the new Assistant Professor of Mathematics. Rushie is his nickname,
given to him by a former student. He earned a Doctor of Philosophy from Arizona State
University in curriculum and instruction, with a major specialty in mathematics education
and minor specialties in educational technologies and instructional design. He also
has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering.

Dr. Meylani placed his signature beneath several scholarly contributions in education,
applied mathematics, and engineering. These contributions include 12 books, 26 journal
and conference articles, and 3 edited book chapters. He has presented at more than
40 conferences, seminars, and mini-courses, and 5 professional development series
for in-service teachers for integrating technology in the mathematics classroom. He
has developed more than 20 course curricula, a series of 7 educational videos on graphing
calculators in the pre-calculus context, 24 educational mobile apps, and 4 patents.
In 2004 he invented a method to teach 40 hours of pre-calculus in 4 hours, which attracted
the attention of the US Department of Education bringing him to Arizona State University
on a full scholarship as a Ph.D. student. Dr. Meylani has also been awarded many grants
and fellowships.

He has served at several educational institutions worldwide, with a mission to make
teaching and learning mathematics enjoyable. He often quotes and is a strong believer
of the following statement: “If you give yourself to mathematics, mathematics will give you the world!”